Jun 4 The Community of Real + Prayer

These days of mothering are long and hard. I'm not going to sugarcoat anything today. The fact that I love my children more than any other person on earth except for my husband also means all other emotions run high as well. Hurts hurt more. Valleys seem lower. The good is so amazing and the hard is so very frustrating.

I've worked many jobs in my life and this calling of motherhood has provided me with the greatest joy by far, but also the greatest weariness. And often feelings of solitude. There is no teachers' lounge for all the neighborhood moms who stay at home. We can't just send the kids out for recess and have a little adult conversation to recharge ourselves in the middle of a rough day.

That doesn't mean we can't have community. I'm writing this at the end of a day that never seemed to end. Thrive was not in my vocabulary today. Surviving was the goal. Until community stepped in.

No, I didn't see any friends face-to-face or get a coffee break with other grown-ups. But if there is anything I have learned in motherhood it is that a mom's community doesn't always have to be right there in the flesh. Some days it's a phone call. A Facebook message. A tweet. Or for me, today, it was a group text.

In this particular community of mine, we value real and we value prayer. The best of communities thrive on these two priorities. And while one friend thought she was just sharing her personal answered prayer, it was that real sharing of another mom, both of the struggle first and the breakthrough later, that gave me hope today.

On a day where I was doing just about everything except thriving as a mom, it was community - far away but also right there for me - that brought my hope and purpose back as a mom. I was so defeated, but their prayers and willingness to show the rough sides of their own journey spoke truth into me, as they so often do.

We are not alone. There is no shame in having rough days as a mom. Prayer changes things. There is always hope with Jesus. And this community He has surrounded me with is His love manifest right when I need it.

Lord, knit us together with other moms in relationships centered around You. Give us the courage to share the real. Let us persist in prayer for one another. Bring us Your hope and love in the flesh through these women. And may we glorify You in it all. In Your Mighty Name, Amen.

Erin Mohring enjoys life in Nebraska with her husband of 11 years and their three boys, as well as reading, running, and movie nights with her guys. She writes at Home with the Boys and is the co-founder of The MOB Society, a site for moms of boys, by moms of boys.